Garden goodies with a healthy dose of life's simple pleasures

And the garlic was snuggled tight in its bed…

Second year zinfandel grapes.

Just because it’s fall doesn’t mean that it’s time to put away the garden tools, retire your gloves and sit back and dream of seed catalogs (like the Baker Creek Seed catalog with its beautiful photos that make you want to order one of everything, regardless of whether you have the space for it or not). No siree! It’s time to get your ass outside and plant garlic, onions, spring flower bulbs and even some spring seeds, sweet cheeks.What you plant now, you’ll be able to enjoy next spring and summer.

Onions and hay-covered garlic.

A rose is a rose is a rose?
I’ve always wanted an impressive rose garden. When I visited Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, last year, I was inspired by the whole garden, particularly the rose garden. Roses tend to be pretty hardy and look nice in any yard. However the major selling point is their intoxicating smell. A quick Google search led me to HeirloomRoses.com, which features every variety of rose you could ever want, it seems. I’ve already planted a Rugosa rose, a drought-tolerant native of Japan that develops huge hips. Next up, the William Morris rose–how can you go wrong with a rose named for England’s celebrated textile designer, socialist and native of East London?

Rugs cover parts of the garden to kill leftover weeds, improve the soil and prevent weeds from growing.